Analysis of One Woman's Memory
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
Here is a lock of his soft, dark hair,
And here are the letters he wrote to me.
And the ring of gold that I used to wear
Is here in the casket-see!
I put them away ten years ago.
'What is it,' you ask, 'did I love in vain?
Was my lover unfaithful?' No, oh! no.
My heart was spared that pain.
He died in the bloom of his manhood's youth.
You say I have his memory, friend;
That he is not dead, but lives, in truth;
Wait till you hear the end.
Death in itself is a little thing,
It is only passing from here to there;
But a death of shame has a bitter sting
That makes it hard to bear.
He was good and true as a man could be,
Noble and pure, when I loved him first;
But all of his race were cursed, you see,
With a fiery, craving thirst.
And the tempter, morning and noon and night,
Was placed in his path by a mother's hand.
The woe of wine, and its blasting blight,
She did not understand.
I did not know, or I did not think,
Of the awful shame that was hidden there
When I saw him lift the glass, and drink
To the health of his 'lady fair.'
I knew and I thought when it was too late.
I reached out my hands, but I could not save.
He hurried on to his fearful fate,
And sank in a drunkard's grave.
He was good, and kind, and true, but weak
When the ruby wine danced o'er the brim.
And woe is me that I did not speak
One warning word to him!
If I had but told him to cast away,
To touch not and taste not the mocker, wine,
I need not have felt as I feel to-day
That blood stains these hands of mine.
O ye who have friends on the awful brink
That hangs o'er the river of ruin and death!
When you see them lift the glass, oh! think
Of the jaggèd rocks beneath.
Reach out a hand ere the deed is done.
Send forth a cry in the dear Lord's name.
Oh! stand not aloof while a precious one
Speeds down to a grave of shame.
Scheme | ABABCDCD EFEFGAGA BHBHIJIJ KAKALMLM NONOPQPQ KXKXRSRS |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 110111111 0110101111 0011111111 1100101 111011101 1111111101 1110010111 111111 110011111 111111001 111111101 111101 100110101 1110101111 1011110101 111111 1110110111 100111111 111110111 10100101 001100101 1101110101 011101101 11101 111111111 1010111101 111110101 10111101 1101111111 1111111111 110111101 010011 111010111 1010111001 011111111 110111 1111111101 111011011 1111111111 1111111 1111110101 111001011001 111110111 1011101 110110111 110100111 1110110101 1110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,774 |
Words | 386 |
Sentences | 29 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 226 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 64 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:56 min read
- 78 Views
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"One Woman's Memory" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10737/one-woman%27s-memory>.
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